The home worker/entrepreneur now constitutes a segment referred to as the mompreneur — the mother who decides primarily for family reasons to leave paid employment and establish a business operated from the home.
A number of women are not content with choosing between the workplace or being a stay — at-home mum; they want a blend of both. Research conducted by British Telecom (2008) found that for more than a third (38 per cent) of business mums indicated their ‘big idea’ was based on a career that enabled them to work from home and juggle parenthood. More than a third (36 per cent) of female entrepreneurs were between 26 and 30 years where 74 per cent of respondents had at least one child under two years old. In the main the issues and challenges encountered by mom — preneurs mirrored those of the more mainstream entrepreneurs. For instance almost half (49 per cent) found their ongoing family commitments an obstacle when trying to launch their own business; more than a fifth (22 per cent) said they had difficulty in borrowing money because of their ‘mum’ status; more than two thirds (68.2 per cent) have had to sacrifice ‘me time’ as a penalty for starting up a business venture, with a further 30 per cent saying it has affected the time they can spend with their partner.
There was a strong sense amongst mompre — neurs that making their business a success required round the clock dedication. Furthermore the internet was viewed as instrumental in helping this group of entrepreneurs develop their business. The role oftechnology facilitated these women to work outside of the traditional 9 to 5 day giving them the freedom to devote time to their businesses as well as their family. Despite the benefits of ICT for the mompreneur, the research study by British Telecom (2008) showed that only a third of business mums access the internet between the hours of 5pm and 9am. Just over 40 per cent admit to accessing the internet more than three hours every day, with more than half of them claiming to use constantly throughout the day. The mompreneurs use the internet for a primarily for finding services, researching competitors, advertising and promotions.
These findings are somewhat surprising given this relatively low application of ICT in this segment of female entrepreneurs where both the nature of the businesses established and the need for flexibility in where and when work is undertaken. In order to identify why this might be the case the research examines if this was characteristic of the broader population of female entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, it is not possible to identify research specific to female entrepreneurs, therefore research on ICT in small firms was used as a reference point. It is envisaged that the issues encountered in the broader population of owner/ managers are relevant for the female entrepreneur.